Heroes is not on to the con,AI auditions continue and Kitchen Nightmares is back in business

More of the Sullivan Brothers' carnival folk plot line unfolds on Heroes as Samuel regains the trust he lost after that tantrum over his lady love rejecting him caused a whole town to literally go under. Rather conveniently during the attack on the carnies during a supposed surrender to Noah Bennett,Lydia the empathic tattoo lady takes a bullet in the chest but realizes all too late that Samuel set them up.

Claire is in the midst of this,of course,and you'd think she would be a little more savvy by now to bad guys and their sneaky ways-come on,Claire,a guy with clearly major plans that involve keeping the band of mutant powered people around him as much as possible is just going to peacefully turn himself in for the good of all? Has none of your time with Sylar(including your most recent encounter with him) taught you nothing about villains and their ability to make bad situations work in their favor?

Granted,Samuel can put on a good con and whip out the halo when needed,plus he's not a showman for nothing. You got to give the man credit for making himself look helpless at just the right moment:



More carnival capers are ahead,as Peter does a mental recon to snap Sylar out of the isolation loop that Parkman trapped him in order to save Emma(who has joined the SB crew)from his deadly dream vision fate and Claire needs to rescue her dad from Samuel's clutches before the two of them are down for the count permanently. With any luck,all of this build-up will be worth the wait:





American Idol is still in the audition stage,with stops in L.A. and Dallas this week. Out of the four guest judges appearing in both cities,I have to say my favorites were Katy Perry and Neil Patrick Harris mainly for their snarking at Kara and Simon. I don't see how Ellen will hold up her end of the expected bitchy banter when her time comes,but clearly NPH and Katy can give her a few pointers there.

For the best of the worst,in L.A.,it was Jason Greene,who managed to creep out Katy Perry with his clueless lounge lizard rendition of "I Touch Myself". That guy was so sleazy that he seemed like the living embodiment of Wanda Sykes' Drink Man:



For Dallas,the Miss Congeniality award goes to Vanessa Jonston who may have a terrible singing voice but a terrific attitude about being told "no". With all of the crying,pouting and shouting from those who have no idea why they aren't granted a golden ticket to Hollywood on the spot,it's nice to see someone happy about being called Simon Cowell's worst nightmare:





Speaking of nightmares,Gordon Ramsey is ready to scare bad restaurants straight for another season of Kitchen Nightmares this Friday night. Say what you will about him,the man does know his stuff when it comes to making a successful eating establishment and the difference between potato soup and mashed potato glue for supper:



RANDOM NOTES:

CONAN O'BRIEN'S SWAN SONG:I was fortunate enough to catch the last Tonight Show hosted by Conan,due to his ouster by Jay Leno whose level of self entitlement is higher than Trump Tower,apparently. Conan did get a few comic digs in but his closing words were well spoken and gracious about his departure,signifying his depth of character.

I didn't get too involved in this feud too much,since late night talk shows have lost their charm for me over the years. However,the more I read and heard about this situation,it was clear as crystal that Conan was in the right here and will do well where ever the winds of fate take him next.

That farewell musical performance of Free Bird with Will Ferrell,Conan and those lucky few who joined in was a truly memorable moment in TV history and I'm glad to have seen it live. Rock on,Conan,you deserve the best treatment because you won't put up with any other(but you need more cowbell!):